Americans United - Sheila Oliverhttp://www.au.org/tags/sheila-oliver
enPaying For Praying?: N.J. Governor Seeks To Award Taxpayer Millions To Seminarieshttp://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/paying-for-praying-nj-governor-seeks-to-award-taxpayer-millions-to
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Two seminaries may be about to receive a taxpayer-funded windfall in New Jersey. </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and some of his political allies are attempting to funnel millions in taxpayer dollars to two sectarian institutions that train members of the clergy – and they’d prefer to keep citizens in the dark about the details.</p><p>The state plans to spend $1.3 billion on construction projects, many of them at colleges and universities. Schools were invited to apply for the aid, and in late April, a list of 176 approved projects at 46 colleges and universities was released, <a href="http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/05/state_refuses_release_of_grant.html">reported the Newark <em>Star-Ledger</em></a>.</p><p>But there’s a problem: Among the awardees are two sectarian institutions -- Princeton Theological Seminary and Beth Medrash Govoha, a rabbinical school. The former institution is seeking nearly $650,000 for technology upgrades while the yeshiva wants a whopping $10.6 million to build a new library.</p><p>These aren’t just two colleges that happen to have a loose religious affiliation but that admit students from a range of theological and philosophical beliefs. Far from it. Both exist to impart theology and train members of the clergy. In the case of Beth Medrash Govoha, there’s an additional wrinkle: The conservative, all-male institution does not admit women.</p><p>Some New Jersey lawmakers are wondering why institutions that serve such exclusively religious purposes and that aren’t even open to all state residents have qualified for a tax-funded windfall.</p><p>“I can’t in good conscience sit by and let public money go to schools with such exclusionary policies,” Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex), said. “It’s a violation of the state’s constitution.”</p><p>All of this is bad enough, but it gets worse. The <em>Star-Ledger</em> has raised questions about whether the Christie administration followed state law in making the grants. When the newspaper filed a request under New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act to get copies of the applications filed by Beth Medrash Govoha and Princeton Theological Seminary, the Christie administration turned it down.</p><p>In a letter to state officials, Oliver expressed her dismay, writing, “For the administration to suggest to the Legislature and the public that the manner in which these funds were allocated is not information we are entitled to have is as bewildering as it is unacceptable.”</p><p>Oliver and another member of the Assembly, Patrick Diegnan (D-Middlesex) have even introduced legislation to block the grants, but that may be tough sledding since no companion bill exists in the state Senate.</p><p>New Jersey’s Constitution is pretty clear on the question of taxpayer aid to religious institutions. Article I, Section 3, states in part, “nor shall any person be obliged to pay tithes, taxes, or other rates for building or repairing any church or churches, place or places of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry….”</p><p>In addition, Section 4 of that same article goes on to say, “There shall be no establishment of one religious sect in preference to another….”</p><p>Forcing New Jersey residents to subsidize seminaries that train people for careers in the pulpit would seem to be a clear violation of Article I. No wonder Christie and other New Jersey officials are reluctant to release these applications.</p><p>Americans United’s Legislative Department is preparing a letter on this matter for legislators in New Jersey. Oliver and others are already asking some tough questions, but more need to step up to the plate.</p><p>There is definitely something rotten about this process. The people of New Jersey deserve better.</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/other-government-aid-religious-schools">Other Government Aid to Religious Schools</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/gov-chris-christie">Gov. Chris Christie</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/new-jersey">new jersey</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/princeton-theological-seminary">Princeton Theological Seminary</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/beth-medrash-govoha">Beth Medrash Govoha</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/sheila-oliver">Sheila Oliver</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/patrick-diegnan">Patrick Diegnan</a></span></div></div>Wed, 22 May 2013 15:19:26 +0000Rob Boston8390 at http://www.au.orghttp://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/paying-for-praying-nj-governor-seeks-to-award-taxpayer-millions-to#commentsGarden State Victory!: N.J. School Voucher Plan Derailed For This Yearhttp://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/garden-state-victory-nj-school-voucher-plan-derailed-for-this-year
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">New Jersey&#039;s voucher bill is dead -- for this year. </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>With all of the hubbub over today’s ruling on health care at the Supreme Court, it’s easy for other stories to get overlooked. Here’s one from New Jersey that’s shouldn’t: Gov. Chris Christie has conceded that his school voucher plan is dead for this year.</p><p>Christie was asked about the matter during a recent town hall meeting in Mahwah. <a href="http://teaneck.patch.com/articles/christie-concedes-school-choice-is-dead-in-nj-this-year">He said the bill was dead</a> and blamed its derailment on Sheila Oliver, the state Assembly speaker, who Christie said refuses to move the bill.</p><p>“Bottom line, it is not going to happen this year,” Christie said. “But hang in there ….I am going to continue to push for it, and hopefully we can get Sheila Oliver to do the right thing and post that bill for the people of New Jersey.”</p><p>The legislative situation may be a little more complex than Christie will say publicly. While the voucher bill did pass committees in the Assembly and Senate, there was no guarantee that it was going to clear the full chambers. In fact, many legislators had expressed concerns about the bill.</p><p>Former New Jersey Gov. Jim Florio summed up some of these concerns in an <a href="http://www.nj.com/njvoices/index.ssf/2012/06/school_voucher_loss_is_gain_fo.html">excellent op-ed</a> blasting vouchers.</p><p>Florio praised public schools as a “uniquely American institution” and criticized voucher boosters who “would segregate our most motivated students in such schools and transfer them to private and parochial schools. The vast majority of remaining students, 85 to 90 percent, would be intellectual residue.”</p><p>Continued Florio, “Voucher supporters, rather than committing to improve educational opportunity for all, run up a white flag of surrender on the hallowed American tradition of universal education – opting instead for a European-style bifurcated system of quality education to some and a lesser system for the rest. Equality for all is apparently too much of an effort.”</p><p>Had vouchers passed in New Jersey, we at AU have no doubts that most of the money would have ended up in the coffers of religious schools. New Jersey has a large Catholic school system and many of its schools have been closing due to budget constraints. At the end of the day, the Garden State voucher plan would have amounted to a taxpayer-funded bailout of Catholic education.</p><p>And the state would have faced the same problems that have surfaced in Louisiana recently, where fundamentalist academies that offer <a href="http://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/weird-science-taxpayer-funded-religious-schools-in-louisiana-teach">sub-standard education</a> are salivating at the idea of getting a taxpayer-funded windfall.</p><p>These developments in New Jersey are welcome, but we know this won’t be the end of it. Christie has vowed to push vouchers anew next year, and big-money interests and powerful sectarian lobbies are gearing up for another fight.</p><p>The issue remains alive in other states as well. In Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Corbett has slashed funding for public education while proposing a wide-ranging voucher plan that would mainly benefit sectarian schools.</p><p>A new pro-voucher political action committee has been formed by wealthy business interests in Pennsylvania, and it plans to <a href="http://articles.philly.com/2012-06-27/news/32425553_1_charter-schools-vouchers-archdiocesan-schools">pour money </a>into the coffers of legislators who back vouchers. Across the country, voucher advocate Betsy DeVos and her front group, Alliance for School Choice, spends millions pushing voucher plans in the states.</p><p>The collapse of Christie’s voucher plan in New Jersey is heartening, but this fight isn’t over yet – not in that state or in others. Defenders of the church-state wall and public education must remain vigilant.</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/vouchers">Vouchers</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/new-jersey">new jersey</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/gov-chris-christie">Gov. Chris Christie</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/sheila-oliver">Sheila Oliver</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/tom-corbett">Tom Corbett</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/betsy-devos">Betsy DeVos</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/vouchers">vouchers</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/jim-florio">Jim Florio</a></span></div></div>Thu, 28 Jun 2012 16:11:46 +0000Rob Boston7266 at http://www.au.orghttp://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/garden-state-victory-nj-school-voucher-plan-derailed-for-this-year#comments